The Query Process

            There are many writers who complain about the query process and, while I don’t join them, I can hardly blame them. It’s a long and arduous process that, in the end, often results in feeling like all that time was wasted. Yet, it is the most important step for someone who wants to get published – even more important than writing a book in the first place.

            It all starts with writing a query letter and, let me tell you, there is very little that is as stressful as that. You have roughly 300 words in which you have to introduce yourself and describe your book while having to make it sound as interesting and unique as you possibly can. Not only that, but you have to do it with the pressure of knowing that the entire fate of your book hangs on this letter.

            Next comes the research. You need to find agents and/or publishers to send your letter to – specifically ones who would be interested in publishing your book. There are various sites to help with this, but I've discovered that there’s no all-inclusive list. You also need to check up on their backgrounds to make sure they’re legitimate – there are many people out there who would love to take advantage of an unsuspecting author and all their hard work.

            Then you need to find out how to submit your work to them. Some of them only accept e-mails, others only snail mail. Some of them want only a query letter, others want samples of your work and a synopsis of the whole book (another nightmare to write) or any combination of the three.

            Finally you get to send the letters out – being sure to personalize them to each agent/publisher you are sending them to. There is some debate on the need to do this; I read one article by an agent that it takes so much time that she doesn't think authors should need to add it to their workload, while I've seen more often that it’s essential because it shows you really want to work with the person.

            Once the letters are sent, you wait.

            Sometimes the replies come quickly, sometimes not. The average response time is four weeks to three months. That is, if they respond at all, which a number specifically say they don’t.

            When the response comes, it is usually a form-rejection letter – pre-typed and sent with a click of a button. After all that work, this is a huge let-down. Not only is it hard on the self-confidence, but it feels cold and impersonal. You just want to ask them, “What did I do wrong? Tell me what to fix and I’ll fix it!” But if you do your research properly, you’ll know you’re not supposed to. So, you’re just left wondering if you’re actually good enough while you wait for the next response to come in.

            Now, while I’d love to hear back personally from every agent I've queried, I fully understand why this is their process. Some agents get as many as 300 books submitted in the span of a week. 300! Per week! Out of that, they end up representing 2-10 new books in a year. It’s little wonder they don’t have time to respond personally to everyone.

            But, once in a while, they do. Their feedback is usually as brief as a form rejection, but you know they’re talking specifically to you. I received one of these this past week and I can honestly say that the only thing that could have made me happier would have been if the agent had wanted to represent my book. She told me that my story was strong and it drew her in from the start. She said I have talent, but she didn't fall in love with the story the way she needs to if she was going to represent it. She also said that she’s certain that it will find a home soon.

            Not only did this wonderful rejection give me a confidence boost, it also shed some more light on the whole query process. The agent took the time to tell me that my book was good enough to publish, but she just wasn't the right one to represent it – and that’s what most writers don’t understand. In order to represent a book, an agent had to fall in love with it. They can’t simply like it.

            So, more often than not, a rejection isn't the “You’re not good enough” that it feels like; it’s more of a “It’s not quite right for me” which, incidentally, is usually the exact wording in those form rejection letters.

            Hopefully that can bring some consolation to other writers, as it did to me. Agents work very hard, so it’s little wonder they can’t often take the time for a personal response – it’s better that they spend their time working with the people they do represent. That makes the times they respond personally mean all that much more.

            The querying process isn't perfect, but it’s the best system we've got right now. Until someone comes up with a better method, all we can do is work with it and hope for the best. Perhaps we should consider renaming rejection letters, though. Rejection feels too harsh for what they actually are. I think Not For Me letters would be a more apt name. Too bad it doesn't roll off the tongue as nicely.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Fickle Crowds

Today I shall impart to you a pet peeve of a scenario I feel appears far too often in stories – be it books, movies or, as was the case with what inspired this post, video games.

            The scenario of which I speak is the one where the hero of our story has a secret that becomes public knowledge and, suddenly, everyone turns against them. Even their closest friends. This happens all the time and I find it to be completely unrealistic.

            Admittedly, it is a good ploy for garnering sympathy for the character and making their situation more desperate, but when it comes down to it, people aren't that fickle. If you were to take a sampling of the people in your life, you would always find at least a few who would stand by you no matter what your secret was. Some people would be driven away, some might think a little less of you, but there is no way everyone would turn against you.

            There are times when this technique does work, but it always involves the character not knowing anyone particularly well – because the better you know someone, the more likely you are to accept their flaws. I suppose if the character was disliked by everyone in the first place it might work, too.

            The specific situation in the game, Arc the Lad (an otherwise fantastic game), has a character who was raised in a small town where everyone knows everyone extremely well. More than that, he was the most popular person in town. Yet, the moment they find out he’s only half human, they turn on him and run him out of town. All I could think was “I know what my blog will be about today”.

            Now, I may be mistaken, but I find that when people know each other well and then a secret comes out, the judgement of the person will be heavily weighted towards their past actions. In the very worst case scenario, the closest friends will find out the truth before making a decision. Mob mentality is strong, but not that strong.

            Perhaps I'm just an idealist who takes laid-back approach to everything. I can’t believe enough people are that fickle. There will always be at least one friend left.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Teaching D&D

            I always enjoy watching people learning to play Dungeons & Dragons for the first time – which is what I was doing tonight. A friend of mine works in a store that is going to start running the official Wizards of the Coast gaming sessions and tonight, in preparation, he was running a game for new players. He asked me (as an experienced player) to come along to help advise the new players.

            The important thing to know about D&D is that it’s a storytelling game, specifically designed to give the players as much freedom as possible. As such, it can be a little complicated to learn – but the hardest thing to learn, I feel, is that you’re allowed to think outside the box and bend the rules to suite your needs.

            The best story I have to describe this involves a game I was playing that was run by the same friend. I had encountered a door that, to get through it, my character had to will himself through – becoming part of the door before passing through. So, I asked that, if my character could will himself to become part of the door, couldn't he also will the door to be part of him? After looking shocked for a moment, my friend agreed. My character absorbed the door and walked around, able to manifest a door at will.

            That’s the sort of game D&D is – anything goes and, in a society built around such solid rules, that’s a hard thing to learn. This group of players did a splendid job, however. At first, they stuck to the mechanics of the game, but while they were in a room with what sounded like an army coming after them, they became more and more creative in finding ways to secure the area. They started with trying to wedge a knife under the door to keep it shut and eventually tried using an ice spell to freeze the doors together.

            The best part is I hardly had to suggest anything. All the players picked up the game quickly and flowed right into it. A lot of credit needs to be given to me friend running the game – he taught the basics and prepared brilliantly for working with new players (if I ever teach a new group again, I’ll take a leaf out of his book). The end result was everyone had fun and there are now a bunch of new people hooked on D&D.

            I bet we could get a lot more outside-the-box thinkers in the world if more people played D&D. Maybe we should teach it in schools. Ah, if only I were the ruler of the world...

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

That Time Change Thing

            I woke up this morning and had no idea what time it was. Why? Because technology. Almost every single timepiece in my house has an internet connection and, therefore, automatically updates when the time changes. This was wonderful, except that I never know for certain if they've actually changed. So, my wife and I had to seek out the microwave clock to discover if our time had actually changed (it had).

            Really, though, what’s the point of daylight saving time in this day and age? I understand it had its uses in the past, but now all it serves to do is confuse and annoy people while creating more car collisions because of how tired everyone is. More than half the world doesn't even use it anymore, so it messes up how different time zones sync up.

            If the change holds any importance, we should just split the difference and permanently shift all the clocks by 30 minutes and leave them there in the middle. Problems all solved. The world will be a better place.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

In Praise of The Ring Lord

            You know, I really must take a moment to praise the unsung heroes of Ringcrafts: the wonderful staff of The Ring Lord.

            When I first started making chainmaille, way back in 2005, I started off by making a shirt for the LARP I was in. For that first tedious shirt, my friends and I made our own rings by coiling wire and cutting each individual ring with tin snips. Needless to say, this was an exhausting and painful process.

            Then I was told about The Ring Lord – a company specializing in providing chainmaille materials. I've never made my own rings since. Thanks to them, I can focus on creating and I get to use a much larger variety of rings than I otherwise would. On top of that, my products are cheaper because I don’t need to charge for the time it would take me to make my own rings.

            The company also has great customer service. There were a few times when there were items missing from my order (possibly lost in transit) and not only did they sort it out promptly – they upped the quality of the packaging for future shipments. I haven’t had anything missing since. On top of that, they recently moved to Toronto, which is awesome because it’s far closer to home (a couple of my friends even work there now). I placed an order on Monday, it shipped out on Wednesday and arrived on Thursday. It was wonderful!

            So, anyway, The Ring Lord deserves a lot of credit. Without them, Ringcrafts would never have started and it would never have come as far as it has. Thank you, Ring Lord staff!

            (Oh, and they also made armour for The Hobbit. And some NASA project. So that’s cool.)

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.